The grounds of Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar echoed with the eloquence of young literary minds from eleven reputed schools of Kolkata as they competed at the inter school literary meet.

On the morning of 28^th January, students from classes III – XII walked in confidently ready to pitch ideas, craft plot, tackle judges in a game of confidence, add voice to characters, present films,  race to apply knowledge and answer questions in the quiz among many others.

Conceived by the Inkspire Club of Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar, the first edition of this fest evolved into a hub of inspired genius. The day flagged off with the lighting of the lamp and Principal Sonali Sarkar’s address who emphasised the importance of creativity and collaboration in contemporary times. It was followed by an engaging Lit Talk – a panel discussion with Ms. Keya Sinha, noted educationist & Director at National Gems School, Dr. Sabarna Roy eminent author and Ms. Jael Silliman – author and activist. Moderated by Sriyanka Biswas a student of Class XI – the conversation ranged from issues like significance of literary activities, nurturing the writers from a tender age, storytelling technology as a challenge to creativity and burnout of writers. The panellists shared

 varied opinions like the significant role played by literary competitions in nurturing creativity and the need for humans to accept and coexist with technology like Artificial Intelligence in harmony. It was interesting to note how Dr. Roy evolved as a writer by starting with poetry. The authors also shared their understanding of the readers’ perspectives. The talk ended with Ms. Silliman emphasising that books offer an opportunity to youngsters to explore and discover the unknown.

The conversation was followed by active participation of more than three hundred participants enthralling the audience by overcoming multi-disciplinary challenges. Contestants debated over topics like ‘Books have afterlife’ and ‘Flawed characters make better role models’ in block-and-tackle format. Others ventured to add voice to their favourite cartoon characters. Some others applied their genius in translating proverbs into storylines. They even composed lyrics and music for the event –  Ballad Beats. A three round literary quiz kept the participants on their feet as they buzzed their way through audio visual rounds.

Additionally, a book fair was organised to encourage learners to explore the print world. Students also demonstrated their craftwork  through  pebble art, book marks & book covers.

The event culminated with G.D.Birla Centre for Education lifting the champions’ trophy and Sri Sri Academy as the first runner-up. Some of the other notable schools present were from St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Mahadevi Birla World Academy, Modern High School for Girls and Aditya Academy Senior Secondary School.

As aptly shared by Ms. Tannishtha Roy – a guest teacher, “The initiative is wonderful. It was an enriching experience to be a part of the audience.”